Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening depending on when you are reading this.  When I saw the title of the episode, I recall a documentary on the Vikings that mentioned the Varangian Guard.  It was a documentary from Nova about the Vikings.  I hope that one day it will be posted to YouTube, as well as the documentary on the Monitor.  Anyway, this documentary comes from the Chronicle Medieval History Channel and is about the Varangian Guard.  It has a run time of 49:30.  It is part of the Ancient Black Ops series and this episode is called the Varangian Guard.

The Varangian Guard was an elite group of Viking soldiers.  They were renowned for their brutality and loyalty.  This group struck fear throughout Europe.  They had their choice of weapons: ax, spear, or sword.  The Byzantine Emperor looked at them and decided to hire a guard for protection.  The emperor ruled the biggest and richest state and he looked for someone to help keep him in power.

Emperor Basil II, the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire ruled the biggest state in Europe.  However, there are revolts along the way and so he needs protection to keep himself in power.  He would do that by marrying his sister off to Vladimir the Great.  He was the Grand Duke of Kyiv and was descended from Vikings.  He was a man infamous for his violence.  It does not matter to Basil, who gets 6,000 Varangian guard members. 

The Vikings had gone on a bloody campaign throughout Europe, and this is where I was reminded of the Nova documentary.  Other Vikings went east, and they would make their fortunes by hiring themselves out as mercenary soldiers.  They had a variety of weapons that they could use for the people who paid for their services.  This was where the documentary talked about the sword, ax, and spear.  The spear was the cheapest weapon to make and was an easy weapon to wield.

Anyway, this group of Vikings wanted riches.   Would have thought they would have incorporated something about the trade routes and how they managed to get to Kyiv and eventually to the Byzantine Empire.  I know this is a documentary on an elite fighting force, but there could have been something about the rivers that they could travel to get to the Empire.  Anyway, the Varangian guard would eventually be hired by the Byzantine Emperor.

Emperor Basil II would use the Varangian guard to secure his empire.  Once the rebellions were put down, they would secure the capital.  It was here that the Varangian guard would gain a reputation for their brutality.  They were put in charge of the prisons and were brutal in torturing people.  They were paid well and were gaining a reputation for being hard partiers.  They would get drunk and would enjoy the chariot races. 

The locals were not impressed by the Varangian guard.  The guardsmen were often drunk and they caused ruckuses through the city.  A piece of Viking graffiti still remains in the Haga Sophia Cathedral.  The Emperor would not be put off by his guards and he would use the Varangian guards to expand the Byzantine empire.  They would be incorporated into the Byzantine army, and for the first time, they would have to learn military discipline and would be employed in a new way.  To learn more about the Varangian guard continue to watch the rest of this episode.

Just a warning, there are images of violence throughout the documentary.  Oh yay, Andrew Gough is participating in this documentary.  He is someone who rubs me the wrong way no matter what information he presents.  I cannot stand him and he needs to be knocked down a few rungs because of his arrogance.  Anyway, there could have been a better introduction to the Varangian guards because the documentary just seemed to jump into Basil II.  The filmmakers had elements of weapons, who they were, and tactics but in my opinion, it would have been better to have it at the start and not scattered through the documentary.  This would be something I would show to older students for a history class and I would use this for research purposes.  I would not show this to younger students.

Good morning and I hope that you are doing very well.  Woot, woot!  I found the sixth episode of Alexander’s Lost World Series, and this will be the conclusion of the series I have been working on for the past few days.  David Adams continues to inspire with his documentaries and I hope that This episode is called Land of the Golden Fleece and it has a run time of 47:48.

Alexander not only sought out riches during his conquest of the East but he was also inspired by the quest of Jason and the Argonauts.  Adams continues to retrace the route that both Alexander the Great and the traders who sought the treasures of the East.  The Oxus River region was a land of shifting environments and a challenge to the people who traveled it.  Adams faced these challenges head-on as he followed the footsteps of Alexander the Great.  What treasures will Adams find along the way?

Alexander and his army continued to press on.  He and his troops had endured battle for five years.  He was seeking the treasures of the East, the treasures that the legendary Jason would have encountered on his journeys.  The routes Adams and his crew travel are a challenge and they have to rely on maps that were created in the 1980s which would have been completely different from the world of Alexander the Great.  The Delta of the Oxus River is an area of shifting sands and disappearing islands.  Whole islands and villages can get taken out.

Although Adams and his guides may have been confused, Adams believes that Alexander the Great knew exactly where he was going and where he was.  Adams theorized that where they were traveling was the site of a large sea and that this was a trading route during the Neolithic Period.  The legend of the Golden Fleece was born out of this sea.  Gold, rubies, and rare minerals continue to be mined in this area today.

Adams and his guide make the journey through Taliban territory to learn more about Alexander the Great.  As the guide gets directions, Adams goes to an ancient fort.  This fort was possibly built to either protect the village or to protect the trade route.  The French discovered the fort in the 1970’s but other than that not much is known about the fort.  Adams and his crew are going into uncharted territory.  They continue to follow the Oxus River.  This was the center of a large trade network between two ancient civilizations.

Adams and his crew stop for the night at a Halo Trust encampment.  The Halo Trust is an organization that goes and removes mines.  The mines were laid during the Soviet invasion, and these mines kill the nomadic people who travel through the area.  Adams, after signing his blood type, goes into the minefield to help the Halo Trust detect mines.  It is a careful and time-consuming job to remove the mines, but removing the mines will allow the local people to plant crops and live a relatively normal life.  It takes time to locate mines because sometimes empty bullet casings are found.  During this section, a mine is discovered and detonated.

Alexander the Great would not have encountered mines, he would have encountered landslides and ambushes.  He was locating a great treasure, and so Adams pressed on.  He goes through the Afghan badlands and it is an area that you do not want to get lost in.  They are called to the police outpost because they are not expecting someone like Adams to come.  It is eventually worked out and Adams gets directions to the ancient trade route.  So what treasure does Adams find that Alexander was seeking?  What does Adams learn about the ancient trade routes?  Continue to watch the episode to find out.

The market was surprised and it was interesting to see a box of Special K cereal in Afghanistan.  Anyway, you really have to wonder what the locals think about this man coming through Afghanistan.  This was an interesting episode, although there were elements of danger to it.  This is one element of history you never really hear about when it comes to Alexander the Great.  I would recommend this for a history and geography class.

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening depending on when you are reading this blog and doing your planning.  April is moving by quickly.   I am going to continue with the story of Alexander the Great.  I really wish Odessey would actually number these episodes because I have been trying to make sure I get all the episodes reviewed.  Today’s episode is called the City of the Lady Moon and it has a run time of 47:30.

When Alexander the Great went east to conquer Persia, he would establish sixteen cities along the way.  However, this theory is now thought to be false.  It could have been that the cities were already existing when Alexander went through and he merely built upon them.  David Adams is in search of what remains of these cities.  These cities are in Northern Afghanistan, a territory that has its challenges.  So what did David Adams learn along the way?

Alexander the Great was looking to add the Emperor of India to his extensive title list.  He would have marched through what would become known as Afghanistan.  He would have encountered rough terrain much like David Adams.  Along the way, Alexander would have built cities, however, there was no record of the cities in the landscape so Adams wanted to find some evidence of what Alexander had built.  He will encounter the same harsh environment that Alexander the Great would have encountered.  Adams and his crew eventually get lost, and I would speculate that Alexander the Great could have gotten lost as well.

Adams makes his way to the Oxus River, it is along the river that there was a legendary city was built.  It could have been the Alexandria on the Oxus would have been built.  A sandstorm may prevent Adams and his crew from crossing.  A police escort is provided to Adams and his crew because it is a troubled area.  The Oxus River, much like the Nile River is constantly changing.  On top of the challenges of the river, Adams will encounter some trouble with the locals in his continued quest to learn more about Alexander the Great.

Adams will have to meet with a local commander to gain access to a site that has some connection to Alexander the Great.  He has to reassure the commander that he is not a spy and that he is interested in ancient history.  Where he is doing, no foreigner has visited before.  It takes some time but Adams gains the trust of the Commander.  After a few adjustments to the vehicle, Adams and his crew press on.

Eventually, Adams arrives at the ruins of an ancient city, it is a site where no excavation has happened.  Therefore, not much is known about the history of this city.  It is a city that lies on the Kunduz Delta and it is called Qy-i-Zal.  This city is massive with large walls surrounding it.  There is evidence that the Greeks would have built this city and they would have built city to keep watch over the Oxus and the Kunduz Rivers.

Adams takes to a hill overlooking the city.  Alexander the Great would have been at the city to put down a rebellion among the locals.  This could have been the city that Alexander built, but the finds just below the surface show that the city was younger than Alexander the Great’s arrival.  However, there are signs that the Greeks built the city.  Adams concludes that this was not the Alexandria on the Oxus.   Sadly, this city will probably never be excavated.

Adams continues to move through Afghanistan and he moves onto a new target city.  This city is in a specialized military zone, and so he needs to get permission from the governor of the province.  So will Adams get permission to travel to the city?  If he does get permission, what will Adams find?  Continue to watch the rest of the episode to find out.

I am amazed to see how Adams navigated his time in this episode.  However, every challenge was met head-on and he was able to continue on with Alexander the Great’s story.  I would still recommend showing this episode to a history class as well as a geography class.

Hello, and good morning.  I hope things are going well.  Today I am working through Alexander the Great’s Lost World series with David Adams and I am going to do another episode from this series and it probably is out of order again.  It looks like there were five episodes in the series and this is the fourth episode I am working on.  This series really does help with expanding the understanding of Alexander the Great.  It is called the Source of Civilization. The run time for this episode is 49:22.

As Alexander the Great marched east along mountain passes he would have encountered a rugged landscape.  He would have encountered forgotten cities and a variety of tribes on his journey to India.  In this episode, David Adams looks for the source of the River Oxus.  He will encounter the same landscapes as Alexander the Great, in search of the ultimate prize: India.  However, like Alexander the Great, David Adams will have to travel along tangled and oftentimes dangerous ancient pathways.  What sites does Adams encounter along the way?

Over four years and a series of battles, Alexander the Great finally defeated the Persian Empire.  However, he had his eyes on a bigger prize: India.  To cross into India he would have to cross the Hindu-Kush Mountains, however the route he would have taken is lost to history.  David Adams has an advantage when it comes to crossing this mountain range: four-wheel drive.  Adams photographs some camels along the way, and the camels are still used to travel and transport goods. 

Alexander the Great was following in the footsteps of Dionysus, a Greek god.  This god had made his way to India and now Alexander the Great wanted to do the same thing.  He would have made his way on horseback, and now Adams finds the end of the road and has to trek into India on foot.  It is here that he encounters a people who call themselves the Children of Alexander the Great.  These people believe that they are the direct descendants of Alexander the Great.  The people are farmers and they move their cattle up the mountain in the summer.  This was a sweet section because Adams takes a picture of the children and shows the children the picture.  Anyway, Adams notes that the picture have a  very different look in comparison to the Afghani people he encountered earlier.

Alexander the Great would have encountered the ancestors of these people and he called them the children of Dionysus.  This would have shown that the people were already in the mountains before Alexander the Great arrived.  Adams learns further about the tribe and where they originated from and follows them to the source of the Oxus River.  It is a place where there are no roads and no places to stop.  It was the place where East met west as the trading caravans converged in the area.  There would have been hundreds of caravans who met here to trade and transport goods over the trade routes.

The Caravan that Adams takes part in would have been smaller in comparison to the baggage trains of Alexander the Great.  Keeping this massive amount of people together would have been a challenge for Alexander the Great.  There would have been massive hills and mountain passageways to cross over.  Even Adams is out of breath as he walks along the same paths.  So does Adams make it to India?  What else does Adams encounter along the way?  Tune into the rest of the episode to find out.

It is amazing that David Adams’ went to Afghanistan to film this documentary.  I bet he could not do that now.  I still wish Odyssey would have time-stamped this series.  This episode was not as intense as the other ones.  There probably was not that sense of danger along this stretch of the trip and I wonder if Adams felt that too.  Adams continues to be curious and enjoys taking in the sites.  He is a man who must love constantly learning new things.  This was a very enjoyable episode to watch.  I would show this episode to a history class as well as a geography class.

Good morning, I hope things are going well for you folks.  Time has flown by quickly and soon it will be summer.  I want to continue with David Adams and his exploration into Alexander’s Lost World.  Today, David Adams is exploring the lost cities of Alexander the Great.  The documentary is called Alexandria on the Oxus and the run time is 48:04.

David Adams continued his travels along the River Oxus, which was home to a great civilization.  He continues traveling through Afghanistan to learn more about Alexander the Great.  It was here that a highly developed civilization lived.  He continued to push the Greek Empire into the Persian Empire.  Along the way, he would have built grand cities, even in the midst of warring tribes.  It was said that Alexander the Great had built many Greek Cities, so what is the truth about these cities?

David Adams begins his journey in the air, after hitching a ride on a troop transport.  This gives him a bird's eye view of what Alexander the Great would have encountered as he conquered the East.  Afghanistan is notoriously difficult to invade, so how did Alexander the Great manage to do it?  Adams does a short explanation on the coalition forces and what they are doing in Afghanistan.

Anyway, Adams continues his exploration of Alexander the Great and what he would have encountered along the way.  He was chasing down an enemy who fled and he had allied with the locals to find him.  This was a very tense part of the documentary because where Adams went is a perfect place for an ambush.  When Alexander the Great conquered this area, he did it with fewer men.  Eventually, the leader was betrayed by his men and was killed by Alexander the Great.
After this, Alexander marched and stamped his authority in the area.  He would establish or reestablish cities.  Some of these cities would disappear from the map.  For many people, life went on as normal for the people.  Adams takes in a local ceremony, which is something Alexander the Great would have witnessed as part of his new duties as Emperor of this vast land. 

Alexander would have kept the local traditions going as a way to keep things peaceful during this transfer of power.  However, anarchy was always lurking in the shadows, so Alexander the Great would have ruthlessly suppressed it.  Adams then transitions into a horse riding game that locals take part in.  Alexander the Great would have overseen these games and perhaps would have participated in the games.  This section was a little bit graphic.

Alexander the Great would have also had to contend with the harsh environment.  He traveled north and made his way to the Oxus River.  Adams travels north to the northern Afghan border to Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to recreate this journey.  Alexander lost four men on this journey and would have encountered blistering heat and sandstorms.  With a good guide, Adams made his way to this border.  It is here that he will cry to cross the Oxus River.  Alexander would have arrived here with an army in disarray.

In the present day, David Adams works to build a raft to row across the Oxus River.  He plans to cross the river, like Alexander the Great did.  Alexander’s enemies would have burned the crops in the field to prevent Alexander from moving on, however, he was not put off and he crossed the river.  Even today, the Oxus River is a challenge to cross.  Adams notes that the river speedily moves along and that Alexander would have crossed it when the river was low.  Where else does Alexander the Great’s travels take him?  To learn more about Alexander the Great’s Lost World continue to watch the rest of this documentary.
 
I wish that Odyssey would have divided the episodes into chapters or timestamps, which could have helped me keep track of where I was in the documentaries.  I also with Odyssey would also put the episode number in their description.  This was a very interesting look at the history of Afghanistan.  David continues his very good narration of Alexander the Great’s journeys.  This would be a documentary that I would show to a history class.

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening I hope that this day is going well for you.  April continues to press on and David Adams continues to explore the lost sea between Greece and the lands of Persia.  I am sure I am doing this series out of order, but that’s just typical for this blog, laugh out loud.  The run time for this episode is 48:00.  It is called the Mother of All Cities.

David Adams continues his journey to explore Alexander the Great’s lost world.  When he conquered the Persian Empire, he would become the first Western to rule the East.  During his campaign to conquer Persia, he would have encountered a civilization as developed as the Greeks.  Today, Alexander the Great is known as the Devil, however, he had left behind his mark.  He built many cities and David Adams is in search of one that has been lost to time: Bactra.

David Adams begins his journey at the rarely used Afghanistan and Turkmenistan board.  He and his camera crew catch a ride with a trucker.  It is a border that no Westerner dares to tread.  Eventually, he is stopped and the Afghan guards have arranged for a vehicle.  This is a sneaky part of the documentary because his cameraman had left the camera running.  Eventually, David Adams crosses over into Afghanistan.

It is here, that a kingdom arose along the Oxus River.  It had a grand capital and for Alexander the Great taking this capital would help him conquer the Persian Empire.  This capital was known as the Mother of All Cities by the Greeks, but little remains of this capital.  Adams and his crew cautiously proceed through northern Afghanistan.  David Adams and his guides quickly make their way to the first stop.  The guides have been dodging bullets in order to document the ancient ruins around the area.  Their first stop for the night is a tea house.

This area has been famous for trade and that tradition continues into the modern day.  The market is famous for making carpets and that tradition continues today.  The history of the missing capital is woven into the carpets.  David and his guide examine a carpet and the geometric patterns in the carpet reflect the fortified cities of this lost civilization.  However, what did these cities look like?  What did Alexander the Great encounter on his way to conquer Persia?

Adams and his guides continue their way and make their way to an archeological site.  The area would have been considered frontier in the past as well.  Most of the city is buried in the sand, however Adams plans to use a camera trick to reveal the fortified city in question.  With a lovely recreation, the city would have been grand, protected by walls.  It was one of a series of forts that would have been used for defensive purposes.  These forts would have earned the kingdom “the land of a thousand cities.”  Adams continues to press on to locate the lost capital of this civilization: Bactra.

On the way to Bactra, Adams makes another stop to learn more about the lost capital.  It is another fortress town.  Over the years it had been looted, but there are still remains of the citadel.  Many of the finds that were discovered come after the time of Alexander the Great.  There are rumors that this lost citadel is Bactra, but Adams disagrees.  After a detour look at one of the oldest mosques in Eastern Asia.  After this quick stop, Adams continues to press on eventually meeting a guy who knows a guy who deals with antiques.  To learn more about Adams’ journey through Afghanistan continue to watch the rest of the episode.

I wish that Odyssey YouTube would put the city names in its description because I had to dig around to find an accurate spelling of the name.  I was not going to attempt to spell it.  That said and out of the way, it was an interesting documentary about something that you NEVER hear about period.  David continues to do well telling the story of his search for Bactra.  You also felt the underlying danger through the screen.  I would show this documentary to a history class.

Good morning!  I hope things are going well for you teachers.  Time to do a documentary on Alexander the Great.  I am going to do a documentary featuring David Adams.  I have not done a documentary from him in quite some time so today I am going to do one.  The run time for this documentary is 49:30.  It is part of Alexander’s Lost World Series.  This episode is called Explorations on an Ancient Sea.

In the high plains of Asia, the remains of an ancient world are hidden.  Alexander the Great made his way to these plains to conquer the world.  He was going to fight against the Persian Empire and his campaign would take him east.  The landscape he would have encountered would have been very different from today.  In fact, there was a civilization that thrived on a large inland sea in this area.  David Adams is in search of this lost civilization and this lost sea.

In this episode, David Adams is going to take a trek on the course of the River Oxus.  This river was home to the Oxus Civilization, a civilization that has been lost to history.  Adams begins his journey in Greece.  The Ancient Greeks were drawn to the East, and there were many legends about the voyages East.  What truth lies behind the legends?  Jason and the Argonauts was a famous tale of the voyages and David Adams sails in a replica of the boat that Jason would have used.

Prince Jason and his crew sailed east in search of the golden fleece.  On the surface it was a story about prosperity, however, there may be clues that the story was about real-life voyages east.  David then explains the voyage behind the story of Jason and the Argonauts.  Jason and his crew would have ended up in the Black Sea.  However, there are older versions of the story say that Jason had made his way past the Black Sea.   Does this indicate that the sea levels were higher?  Were the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea connected at some point?  David Adams elaborates his theory on this.

In Greece, David Adams made his way to a site that was older than the Jason and the Argonauts took place.  It was where a sea-faring people settled.  It was where people could stay and farm, which would allow the people to travel on the sea.  Adams suggests that this was where Jason and the Argonauts began.  The people who would have settled here came from the Neolithic period and according to rock carvings they would have sailed on large boats.

Adams makes his way to Southern Russia to explore the boggy wetlands between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.  The area is part of a protected area, but there are plans to open up the seaway once again.  This means that sailors could make their way from the Black Sea to the Caspian Sea once again.  During Alexander the Great’s time, he would have sent out scouts to see if he would be able to sail on this waterway.  So Adams, following the footsteps of Alexander the Great, makes his way to the Caspian Sea through Turkmenistan.  He is looking for the River Oxus.  It would have been a vast waterway joining the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.

David Adams wants to make his way to the ancient river bed.  How does he do it?  What does Adams learn during this journey?  What extreme climates will Adams encounter?  To learn more about Adam’s journey continue to watch the rest of the episode. 

This episode reminds me of the Secrets of the Dead episode featuring the Amazon Warrior Women, and how the myth was based on real-life warrior women.  In all honesty, I was waiting for some unimaginative historian or scientist to pooh-pooh Adam’s theories.  Anyway, David Adams is an enjoyable narrator and looks to tell a story about what he is discovering.  In my opinion, he is very nice to listen to.  This documentary was very well done and Adams lays out the story very well.  This would be a documentary I would show to a history class and because we are talking about Greek myths I would show this to a literature class.

Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening depending on when you are reading this.  I hope that you are doing well and planning is going well.  I cannot believe we are in March and for some the school year is winding down.  For some schools, there are planning days to help with curriculum development too.  I remember this was the time I always was floating around the school subbing because of that time of year.  Anyway, now that we have that piece of business out of the way I am doing a documentary about the Florida Keys.  The run time for this documentary is 56:46.  It is called The Florida Keys: 200 Years of Paradise.

The early pioneers of the Florida Keys would have faced managed challenges.  However, these pioneers would rise to the challenge.  The early pioneers would arrive to have encountered breathtaking scenes.  However, the scenes would have provided their challenges. Reefs would wreck ships by the dozens.  There were also fierce hurricanes.  At times their exotic world would feel scary.  For over 200 people thousands of people would call the Florida Keys would call home.  This is the history of the Florida Keys.

The story of the Florida Keys began in 1822 when the first pioneers planted the first American flag.  It had been a paradise that had often caused shipwrecks.  The United States Navy worked to carefully map the Keys.  Wreckers would navigate through the islands either rescuing the ships or rescuing the crews of the ships.  Four lighthouses were established, however, the ships would still be wrecked and the wreckers would continue to make money.

The early pioneers would face shipwrecks but also pirates.  Eventually, the United States Navy would work to combat the pirates.  The pioneers would also face mosquitos and yellow fever.  There was a short little quip about the female lighthouse keepers.  The civilization on the Keys would have been wild and the presence of Women was supposed to have a settling effect on the growing community.

Then there was the transition into the discussion on slavery and the African American Community.  Particularly there was a discussion on Sandy Cornish who ran a successful farm in Key West.  He came up with a clever way to make soil using dung and seaweed.  You could almost hear the sarcasm because he made a farm on unfarmable land.  Then there was a quick hit-and-run discussion on the Flagger Railroad.  Then there was a discussion on the shipwreck, particularly looking for a slave ship that had sunk in the Florida Keys.

The story then transitions to the other people who settled in the Florida Keys: the Cubans and the Jewish people.  This led to a discussion on how the Florida Keys was a multicultural place.  Suddenly there was a discussion on the economy and what jobs were created in the Florida Keys.  Wrecking would eventually go into decline and so there needed to be alternative jobs.  Cigars would become a big business in the Florida Keys and Key West would become the chief economic engine in the Florida Keys.  The discussion continues on the impact of the Cubans on the Florida Keys.
Eventually the documentary shifts to learning about how a railroad was built connecting the Florida Keys to the Florida Mainland.  Who would build the railroad?  Why would they build it?  To learn more about this railroad continue to watch the rest of the documentary.

The information sometimes felt like it was coming at you fast and you almost regretted that the documentary could not have been longer that way the pace could have slowed down.  I felt like there were times when I had whiplash because of the speed and it was also hard to follow along.  It also could have been divided into chapters to help pull out information and to help follow along with the documentary.  At times it felt like the documentary did not follow an ordered timeline.  I think it would have been better if there was a yearly order for the documentary.

It really was an eye-opening documentary on the Florida Keys.  Despite my complaints about this documentary, it does have the potential to be an excellent primer on the Florida Keys.  It was a good overview of the history of the Keys.  This documentary would deserve a place on a potential list to show to a history class.

Hello!  I hope you are doing well and that you are enjoying the final months of the school year.  Time has flown by quickly.  Soon it will be May and then June.  For the summer I then just do three blogs a week before resuming the five days a week for the school year.  Today’s documentary is about the Titanic and is from the Drain the Oceans Series.  The run time for this documentary is 44:24.  It is called Drain the Titanic.

The most infamous ship in all history.  She was the largest man-made human object at the time.  She was built in a time when people wanted to cross the Atlantic in a fast time.  She was built for luxury.  She would sink on her maiden voyage taking down with her many secrets.   Although many eyewitnesses survived the ship sinking, there is not much known about how she sunk.  She would be discovered once again in pieces on the ocean floor.   Will the mystery of Titanic’s final moments finally be solved?

A team has come together to help map the Titanic wreck area.  Using underwater drones the goal of the project is to not only map the area but also to discover how and why she sank.  This project will allow thousands of gallons of water to be drained away from the Titanic to learn more about the wreck as never happened before.  Data comes to the surface and now has to be put together and organized.  Millions of sonar points and images come together to help discover more about the Titanic wreck.

The ocean is drained away from the Titanic wreck site, two and a half miles down.  The wreck has been on the bottom of the Atlantic for over one hundred years.  The stern and bow sections are miles apart from each other.  They are the two largest sections on the site.  There are five debris fields on the site.  These debris fields are filled with objects that fell out of the ship or were ripped off it.  The bow section is relatively intact it was where the pool and the grand staircase were.  It also reveals that the bow section went down slowly and smoothly.  Scientists calculate that it went down at 35 MPH and it would have plowed into the mud below.  So where was the iceberg impact on the bow section?

The initial reports say that a gigantic section of the hull was ripped into leaving behind a giant hole.  However, the eyewitnesses say that the Titanic took two hours to sink.  Paul Henry Nargeolet has gone to the wreck over three hundred times and did not see a gaping hold in the wreck.  So how big was the iceberg impact?  Images of the bow section prove that there was no gaping hole, other than small impact sections where the Titanic hit the iceberg.  Eleven square feet of slices into the haul were discovered and it was all it took for the Titanic to sink.

The next task for the Titanic Mapping project is to discover where the Titanic broke apart and why it broke apart.  The stern is in shambles and is the largest part of the wreck.  Why is this stern in shambles?  The engines are still intact surrounded by collapsed decks and steel beams twisted.  Over the years there have been theories as to why the stern conditions.  Draining the wreck shows a massive mark on the ocean floor.  Unlike the bow, the stern went to the bottom of the ocean spinning around at 50 MPH.  The massive forces on the stern would have ripped the stern apart.  Large chunks would have come off followed by smaller pieces.  Water would have rushed into the stern section blasting through the interiors.  There is one final question for the Titanic Team.  Where and why did the Titanic break apart?  For that answer tune into the rest of the episode to find out.

My first complaint about this documentary is that it was way too short and it could have been a little bit longer.  I mean (although I do not care for the Titanic), it is the Titanic we are talking about so it could have been a longer documentary.  That said this is still a well-done documentary and I would show this to a history class.

Hello all, I hope that you folks are doing very well.  I hope that you working on your plans.  Well, it has been a while since I did a documentary on Royal History, so today I am going to do such a documentary.  It has been sitting on my documentary review list, so I want to knock it down.  I am not sure how it will go, so here it goes!  Today I am going to look at a documentary about the Normans and how they came to rule England.  The run time for this documentary is 45:26.  It is called the Normans and it is part of the Kings and Queens of England.

It was the year 1066 and it would become the turning point in English History.  William, the Duke of Normandy led his troops into battle at Hastings to take the throne of England.  It would have been the end of Anglo-Saxon rule in England.  For the next 150 years, England would be ruled by the Norman Kings.  This documentary follows the story of William I, Henry I, and Stephen.  Then it follows the story of Henry II, Richard, and King John.

Alan Ereira introduces the story of the English crown.  He talks about the battle of Hastings at the start of the documentary.  It was here that William the Conqueror and his troops defeated Harold.  He took the English throne for himself.  He transitions to the Bayeux Tapestry which is the story of how William the Conqueror came to England to become king.  William was a warrior and was willing to fight to keep what he had.  He made Harold swear to promise to support him in his quest to become King of England.

Harold did not keep his promise, after Edward the Confessor died, he had himself elected king.  William believes that Harold has broken his promise would invade.  Harold Hardrada, a Norwegian king with a link to the English throne would also invade.  Harold had to fight for his throne.  He would defeat the Norwegian king.  Harold would rush south but would be defeated at Hastings. 

William the Conqueror would march to London and would be crowned King.  He would stamp his authority on England.  He would seize private property.  The people at York would rebel against him and William the Conqueror would severely punish the inhabitants.  York in the years after this punishment was still devastated.  The church would become Norman.  He would kill the monks who refused to follow him.

The Normans would be challenged because they did not speak the language of their new people.  They would have to rely on the English to govern.  William would have to learn to request the English traditions.  He would have to promise to uphold the laws of Edward the Confessor.  Eventually, William the Conqueror died and he named his younger son William Rufus as king.  His oldest Robert would have been named the Duke of Normandy.  His youngest son, Henry would be given 5,000 pounds.  The brothers would not be content with what they had.  They fought each other.  Robert would eventually go on a crusade. 

William Rufus would plunder the church and eventually, he would be assassinated.  Henry would seize the throne of England.  He put himself forward as king.  Some people balked at this wannabe king, but he pushed his claim displacing his older brother from the throne.  It would be the first elected English king since King Harold.  Robert would try to challenge Henry’s claim to the throne.  However, he was bought off with a pension.  Henry would eventually invade Normandy and would imprison his brother.  To learn more about the Normans and how they ruled England continue to watch the rest of this documentary.

Alan Ereire is a very different narrator in comparison to David Starkey or Lucy Worsley.  I think Lucy owes us a good documentary on the Kings and Queens of England now.  Anyway, it would have been nice to have this episode divided into chapters to make it easier to pull segments out.  It was an older documentary, but the information was very good.  It would be interesting to see a newer documentary with new information.  I would put this on my potential documentaries to show to a history class.